Indian Treaty Fishing Rights and Habitat Protection: The Martinez Decision Supplies a Resounding Judicial Reaffirmation

In the mid-nineteenth century, as the pace of American westward expansion accelerated and tension between white settlers and indigenous tribes mounted, the federal government convinced many Pacific Northwest tribes to enter into treaties that would facilitate white settlement. In exchange for cession of millions of acres of their homeland, the tribes retained the right of taking fish at all usual and accustomed places in common with white settlers. In the 1905 case United States v. Winans, the United States Supreme Court explained that the treaty fishing right constitutes a servitude upon every piece of land. We have described this servitude as a piscary profit, a familiar property right at common law that must be exercised free from unreasonable interference. While the universally shared assumption at the time the treaties were signed was that the salmon resource was inexhaustible, in fact the salmon have been in precipitous decline since the late-1800s. This scarcity bred conflicts, which have forced the tribes to enforce their treaty fishing right in the courts for over a century. This article explores the history and contours of the treaty fishing right from 1905 to present, tracing the evolution of the federal courts\u27 understanding that implied within the fishing right is a right of access, a right to a fair share of the salmon harvest, and a right of habitat protection. In particular, the article examines the 2007 Culverts Case, in which Judge Ricardo S. Martinez resoundingly affirmed that the treaty fishing right prohibits habitat-damaging activities that preclude tribes from earning a moderate living through fishing-in this case, the state of Washington\u27s construction and maintenance of fish passage-blocking culverts. The article concludes that not only is Judge Martinez\u27s decision the logical progeny of over a century\u27s worth of precedent, the result is consistent with common law principles of profits. In the end, the Martinez Decision represents the most important treaty fishing rights decision in decades, with the potential to rectify a fundamental unfairness in treaty fishing rights law, which previously provided access to fisheries, allocated harvest shares, and yet allowed destruction of the salmon resource, the central consideration of one of the largest real estate transactions in history

All the way to the top! The energy implications of building tall cities

Density of urban form may be achieved under a variety of morphological designs that do not rely on tallness alone. Tall buildings have implications on the broader urban environment and infrastructure that lower buildings would not have, e.g. wind effects, sight-lines, or over-shading. They may also have an impact on energy use for reasons of buildings-physics, construction, and occupant practices. This study uses a statistical approach of neighbourhood level data to analyse the impact of building morphology (e.g. height, volume and density) on energy demand in 12 local authorities in London. The research shows that areas marked by tall buildings use more gas after adjusting for exposures surface area, volume, number of residents and other features. The implication for energy policy and planning is building taller without increasing density may have an energy penalty

Energy use and height in office buildings

The relationship between energy use and height is examined for a sample of 611 office buildings in England and Wales using actual annual metered consumption of electricity and fossil fuels. The buildings are of different ages; they have different construction characteristics and methods of heating and ventilation; and they include both public and commercial offices. When rising from five storeys and below to 21 storeys and above, the mean intensity of electricity and fossil fuel use increases by 137% and 42% respectively, and mean carbon emissions are more than doubled. A multivariate regression model is used to interpret the contributions of building characteristics and other factors to this result. Air-conditioning is important, but a trend of increased energy use with height is also found in naturally ventilated buildings. Newer buildings are not in general more efficient: the intensity of electricity use is greater in offices built in recent decades, without a compensating decrease in fossil fuel use. The evidence suggests it is likely – although not proven – that much of the increase in energy use with height is due to the greater exposure of taller buildings to lower temperatures, stronger winds and more solar gains

Sex differences and effects of prenatal exposure to excess testosterone on ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons in adult sheep

Prenatal testosterone (T) excess in sheep results in a wide array of reproductive neuroendocrine deficits and alterations in motivated behavior. The ventral tegmental area (VTA) plays a critical role in reward and motivated behaviors and is hypothesised to be targeted by prenatal T. Here we report a sex difference in the number VTA dopamine cells in the adult sheep, with higher numbers of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)‐immunoreactive (‐ir) cells in males than females. Moreover, prenatal exposure to excess T during either gestational days 30–90 or 60–90 resulted in increased numbers of VTA TH‐ir cells in adult ewes compared to control females. Stereological analysis confirmed significantly greater numbers of neurons in the VTA of males and prenatal T‐treated ewes, which was primarily accounted for by greater numbers of TH‐ir cells. In addition, immunoreactivity for TH in the cells was denser in males and prenatal T‐treated females, suggesting that sex differences and prenatal exposure to excess T affects both numbers of cells expressing TH and the protein levels within dopamine cells. Sex differences were also noted in numbers of TH‐ir cells in the substantia nigra, with more cells in males than females. However, prenatal exposure to excess T did not affect numbers of TH‐ir cells in the substantia nigra, suggesting that this sex difference is organised independently of prenatal actions of T. Together, these results demonstrate sex differences in the sheep VTA dopamine system which are mimicked by prenatal treatment with excess T.We report a sex difference in ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine cells in the adult sheep with higher numbers of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)‐immunoreactive cells in males than females. Moreover, prenatal exposure to excess T during gestational days 30–90 or 60–90 caused increased numbers of VTA TH‐immunoreactive cells in adult ewes compared to control females. Sex differences were also demonstrated in the substantia nigra, but prenatal T had no effect on TH in this area. Results indicate that sex differences and prenatal exposure to excess T affects both numbers of cells expressing TH and the protein levels in the VTA.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111123/1/ejn12871.pd

Relation of microvascular dysfunction to exercise capacity and symptoms in patients with severe aortic stenosis

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of left ventricular hypertrophy, myocardial fibrosis, myocardial perfusion reserve (MPR) and diastolic dysfunction on objectively measured aerobic exercise capacity (peak VO$_{2}$) in severe aortic stenosis (AS). Background: The management of asymptomatic patients with severe AS remains controversial and clinical practice varies. Echocardiographic measures of severity do not discriminate between symptomatic status or predict exercise capacity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanisms contributing to symptom generation and exercise intolerance. This needs to be fully understood to optimise the management of asymptomatic AS. Methods: Patients were prospectively enrolled from a single cardiac surgical centre. Inclusion criteria: age 18-85, isolated severe AS referred for valve replacement. Exclusion criteria: syncope; other moderate/severe valve disease, previous valve surgery, obstructive coronary artery disease (>50% luminal stenosis on invasive angiography), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, atrial fibrillation, estimated glomerular filtration rate <30mL/min. Investigations and primary outcome measures; cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) - left ventricular mass index (LVMI), MPR (calculated from absolute myocardial blood flow during adenosine hyperaemia and rest determined by model-independent deconvolution of signal intensity curves with an arterial input function), late gadolinium enhancement (LGE); echocardiography - AS severity, tissue Doppler-derived diastolic function; symptom-limited bicycle ergometer cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPEX) - peak VO$_{2}$. Linear regression investigated possible predictors of continuous outcome measures. Stepwise selection methods were used to determine the most important predictors of outcome. Results: Four patients with variable LVMI, LGE and MPR are shown, Figure 1. Univariate analyses and results from the stepwise model selection for peak VO$_{2}$ are summarised in Table 1. Only MPR was of independent significance in predicting age and sex corrected peak VO$_{2}$. The relationship between peak VO$_{2}$ and MPR is shown, Figure 2. Patients with higher NYHA Class had lower MPR (p=0.001). Examining predictors of MPR the best stepwise model contained LVMI and LGE category as independent predictors, Table 2. Conclusions: MPR is a novel independent predictor of peak VO$_{2}$ and is inversely related to NYHA functional class in severe AS. Microvascular dysfunction is determined by a combination of factors including AS severity, LVMI, diastolic perfusion time, myocardial fibrosis and LV filling pressure. Further work is required to determine the clinical significance of microvascular dysfunction in AS

Fine-scale spatial variability of heat-related mortality in Philadelphia County, USA, from 1983-2008: a case-series analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>High temperature and humidity conditions are associated with short-term elevations in the mortality rate in many United States cities. Previous research has quantified this relationship in an aggregate manner over large metropolitan areas, but within these areas the response may differ based on local-scale variability in climate, population characteristics, and socio-economic factors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We compared the mortality response for 48 Zip Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) comprising Philadelphia County, PA to determine if certain areas are associated with elevated risk during high heat stress conditions. A randomization test was used to identify mortality exceedances for various apparent temperature thresholds at both the city and local scale. We then sought to identify the environmental, demographic, and social factors associated with high-risk areas via principal components regression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Citywide mortality increases by 9.3% on days following those with apparent temperatures over 34°C observed at 7:00 p.m. local time. During these conditions, elevated mortality rates were found for 10 of the 48 ZCTAs concentrated in the west-central portion of the County. Factors related to high heat mortality risk included proximity to locally high surface temperatures, low socioeconomic status, high density residential zoning, and age.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Within the larger Philadelphia metropolitan area, there exists statistically significant fine-scale spatial variability in the mortality response to high apparent temperatures. Future heat warning systems and mitigation and intervention measures could target these high risk areas to reduce the burden of extreme weather on summertime morbidity and mortality.</p